South Carolina, Tennessee headline deep SEC field

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DULUTH, Ga. (AP) — Dawn Staley says the depth of the SEC gives her extra pride in South Carolina's first conference title.

The Gamecocks are the team to beat in the Southeastern Conference tournament, which begins on Wednesday night.

The league's depth shows as five of the top 12 teams in the NCAA's RPI are from the SEC.

How deep is the league? LSU, only the No. 10 seed in the SEC tournament, is a strong No. 12 in the RPI.

Tennessee beat South Carolina on Sunday to clinch the second seed in the SEC tournament.

South Carolina, Tennessee and the tournament's other top four seeds — Texas A&M and Kentucky — are off until Friday. Missouri plays Mississippi State and Arkansas faces Mississippi in the first round on Wednesday night.